A Burdened Family

Chapter 7

After grabbing the dead vampire's car, and fetching his keys from inside the warehouse, I drove for a few hours. About six hours in, I stopped for gas and pulled into a local bar. I hadn't taken much cash when I left, and I had every intention of eating that night. I yanked on an extra set of clothes, adjusting them to make myself appear innocent and naive. Time for a hustle.

The bar was hopping. It was nearly claustrophobic inside, but I needed cash. I headed over to a pool table to find a group of guys already in the middle of a game.

There were four of them in total.

One looked to be in his 50s- at least. He wasn't terribly unattractive, he had pretty grey eyes, and he looked to be just under 6 feet tall. But he had a small beer belly, and his mustache belonged on the face of a pimp. He had girls hanging off of him left and right, which led me to believe that he was loaded. He was terrible at the game, shanking every shot he tried for. The fact that he was drunk off his ass didn't help either.

The second guy was clearly an experienced player, but he couldn't have been older than 40. He stood like he owned the place, and made a lot of good points, but he tensed up every time another player made a good shot. He was either close to broke, or he had something to lose. He was Asian, and about my height-5 foot 8. If it weren't for his mohawk, he might have been a real ladies man. His left arm was covered completely in tattoos. One in particular caught my eye, he had ties with a gang. The ink didn't signify he was in, but he was definitely in contact with them. My guess: he owed them money. A lot of money.

The third guy reminded me of a dark version of Legolas, from Lord of the Rings. Yes, I'm a fan of the movies- sue me. He appeared to be about Dean's height, just over 6 feet, and his dark brown hair fell neatly to his shoulders. His eyes were dark brown, but they flickered gold when hit by the light. He was probably about 30 and he remained quiet, watching everything around him. He didn't say much, but as soon as he did, everyone leaned in to hear him. He didn't look particularly strong, but the look in his eye and his posture were a warning that he could take down the entire bar without a scratch. He was powerful. He wasn't playing pool, but he was putting money down, betting on the fourth and final man at the table.

The fourth man would be my biggest challenge, making every shot he took. He was good, and wasn't afraid to show it off. He couldn't have been older than Dean, maybe 25 or 26. He had the beginning of a stubble, blue eyes that seemed to hold all the answers of the universe, and blonde hair that was about as long as Sam's. He was tall, too, probably 6'4 or 6'5. There was something about him that drew me in, a darkness in his expression. Besides my brothers, I had never met another person so young and so tainted by the world around them. The blonde man intrigued me.

"What are you playing?" I cocked my head, leaning in to display cleavage.

"Pool." The blonde man answered, not even glancing at my boobs. The quiet man behind him didn't look either, keeping his eyes trained on the table. The other two were a different story, staring shamelessly down my shirt. Perverts.

"How do you play?"

"You call the ball and where you want it to go- 6 in back left." The man responded, his blue eyes analyzing the table. "And you get the ball in the hole."

It was a clean shot. The six went straight into its pocket.

"If you get it in, you go again." The man walked around the table and called his next shot, another perfect turn. "When you miss, your turn ends."

"Can I try?" I grinned innocently at the men around the table. "I was pretty good at geometry."

"Pool's a lot more than-"